1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to motor-driven, hand held devices. More particularly, it relates to motor-driven, hand-held machines provided for doing work on various work surfaces.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Although this invention is applicable to numerous and various types of motor-driven, hand-held devices or machines, it has been found particularly useful in the environment of motor-driven, hand-held erasing machines Therefore, without limiting the applicability of the invention to "motor-driven, hand-held erasing machines", the invention will be described in such environment.
Motor-driven, hand-held erasing machines, such as those driven by both AC and DC electric motors of both cord and cordless type, have been utilized for many years. An erasing machine of this nature will generally incorporate a motor-driven mechanism that is disposed within a housing, which drive mechanism is connected to a collect chuck mechanism that receives and holds a generally cylindrical strip of erasing material, commonly known as an eraser strip. Upon manual manipulation of an on-off switch, the erasing machine, which is adapted to be hand-held, may be energized to cause rapid rotation of the eraser strip which may then be brought to bear upon a work surface in order to remove undesirable markings therefrom.
The prior art motor-driven, hand-held erasing machines are too large in diameter for many people to easily and comfortably hold them in their hand. Some prior art machines have the motor offset from the chuck tube and drive the chuck tube through a gear arrangement.
The present invention is intended to provide a solution to various prior art deficiencies which include the requirement that two hands may be required for the easy operation of the machine if the machine has a toggle-type on-off switch. Some prior art machines require a separate power converter to be used in conjunction with the machine to reduce voltage level from the nominal wall-outlet voltage. Some prior art machines are too large and/or too heavy for people with smaller hands.